Dots on Paper
by ThisIsTheDungeonThatNeverEnds
Summary: He brought a hand to his face and traced the edges of the scar that engulfed his left eye. "Now when I should be out there fighting for the safety of the people of Eos in the name of my King, I'm held up in this dingy hotel room relearning how to read and walk and dress myself like I'm a toddler all over again!"


**If this looks familiar, it has been previously posted to my AO3 account under the same name.**

* * *

Were the world not in such dark chaotic ruin and Insomnia was intact, Ignis would be with a professional right now. He would be in the capable care of physical and emotional therapists who had twelve years worth of education under their belt specifically to help people cope with a new disability. Of course, were the world not in such dark chaotic ruin and Insomnia was intact, Ignis most likely would not be blind in the first place and everything else would be beside the point.

"This is useless!" Ignis shouted as he slammed the book closed and shoved it to the other side of the table. The book was one if the few brail texts they had managed to salvage from the flooded library in Altisha. It was not even a beginners book, but at least Prompto thought the subject matter (the history of Acordo's transition from a constitutional monarchy to a republic) would hold the older mans attention. With this, as with everything else, they made due.

Promoto sighed and set aside his normal print copy of the same book, from which he had been reading allowed as Ignis followed along in brail.

"I know it's slow going, Iggy, but-"

"I don't have time for slow!" he shouted and stood from his seat. "When Noctis returns, I need to be ready. I need to be in the best possible condition. I need…"

Ignis took a shaking breath and rubbed his face with his hands. He removed his protective visors and tossed them carelessly onto the table. Prompto caught them before they tumbled off the edge and carefully laid them on top of the discarded brail book.

"You're right," Prompto agreed, standing and moving close enough to take Ignis' hands that had now fallen to his sides. "You need to be in tip-top shape for Noct. But stressing yourself out is going to do the exact opposite of that."

The shame and anguish on Ignis' face broke Promptos heart. He hated seeing the carefully constructed composure of the man who was always the rock of the group fall apart like this. But he also considered himself lucky to be the only person Ignis trusted with this side of himself, with the worries, fears, and insecurities he kept locked away from the rest of the world and even himself at times.

"I used to be strong; capable," Ignis lamented. "Before, I could do anything I set my mind to. If I would fail or if things would go wrong, I would always have a contingency to fall back on. But now…" he brought a hand to his face and traced the edges of the scar that engulfed his left eye. "Now when I should be out there fighting for the safety of the people of Eos in the name of my King, I'm held up in this dingy hotel room relearning how to read and walk and dress myself like I'm a toddler all over again. I'm useless; helpless,"

Ignis sat on the edge of the bed and buried his scarred face in his shaking hands.

"Ignis," Prompto's voice was barely a whisper, "Please don't say that; it…it's not true." Prompto sat next to Ignis and Ignis let his hands fall into his lap. Prompto carefully took one of those hands in his own. "Remember Cartonica?" Promoto waited for Ignis to nod. "You saved our skins back there. If it wouldn't have been for you, we'd have all been marlboro chow. That doesn't exactly sound like someone who's useless. Then after we got out of the tomb, you put up for yourself against Gladio and Noct both. And in Gralea you were even still able to fight. Maybe you can't pole-vault over enemy hoards like before, but you helped us re-work our fighting style so you could fight defensively while Gladio and I used their distraction against them. Doesn't sound helpless to me.

"Iggy, you're still strong and capable. You can still do anything you set your mind to. But I can't lie; it'll be harder. You can do it though. I know you can."  
Prompto tenderly lifted Ignis' chin up and smiled sweetly when Ignis followed through with the motion and faced Prompto.

"We can do it," Promoto added, cupping Ignis' face in his hand, "because I'm not gonna leave no matter how much you put yourself down or insist you're holding me back. I won't give up on you, just like you didn't give up on me when I thought becoming crownsguard was hopeless, or when you found out I was an imperial science project. Okay?"

Ignis nodded slowly and a silent tear escaped from the eye that wasn't scarred closed.

"Thank you, Prompto," he said softly.  
Prompto swiped the tear away with his thumb. He leaned in and placed a chased kiss on the corner of the starburst pattern scar around his left eye.

"Thanks for letting me take care of you. You deserve it after everything you've done for all of us. And me."  
Prompto kissed Ignis again, this time on his slightly parted lips. Ignis neither pulled away nor kissed back, but Promoto was not disappointed. When he broke the miss, he whispered against Ignis' chin. "I love you."

"I love you too Prompto. And once again, thank you."


End file.
